Priyamani joins Trisha and Shriya as ‘forgotten’ heroines

Priyamani has everything one could possibly look for in a heroine: she is pretty, has a voluptuous body, acts and dances well and more than anything else, speaks fluently in her own voice unlike many frontline actresses who survive on dubbed voices in all the language films. As if these aren’t enough, she is also winner of the national award for ‘best actress’ for her role in Ameer’s Paruthi Veeran in 2007.

Despite all these, she finds herself out of favour with Tamil film producers/directors, a phenomenon which is very difficult to explain indeed. Unlike the Trishas and Shriya who survive(d) on dubbed voices, Priyamani has a sweet and husky voice and speaks in her own voice. She emotes well, dances well and has of late taken up the avatar of an ‘action heroine’ in films.

Though she starred in films by ace directors such as Bharathiraja, Balu Mahendra and Mani Ratnam, for some reasons, she wasn’t able to cement her due place in Tamil films industry where actresses who were less talented than her were able to reach the top, albeit with no single hit film on their own acting prowess. Priyamani also danced for an ‘item number’ in the recent super-successful Bollywood film Chennai Express.

She now pins her hopes on her upcoming Telugu film Chandee directed by Samudra and having a huge star-cast including leading heroes in Tamil and Telugu. Priyamani plays a warrior in this period drama and has reportedly attempted some daredevil action sequences a la Vijayashanti, the action heroine who ruled the roost in Telugu and Tamil films in the nineties.

A heroine taking to action route is usually considered as her last resort to stay in reckoning in films. Trisha is also attempting an ‘action avatar’ in one of her latest films. However, given Priyamani’s commitment in whatever she does, it can be assumed that she would have done a better job; yet, it remains to be seen whether Chandee has enough in it to resurrect her career in Tamil as it is likely to release in Tamil in its dubbed version.